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“It’s kind of a long story,” I said meekly. “Well, no, I guess it isn’t. She was pulled here by my feeling guilty about things.”
Wanda snorted and shook her head. “Well, there’s your first mistake. Never feel guilty about anything. Problem solved.”
My laugh was maybe a bit shrill, but I thought I was due. “I’ll work on that.”
There was one face that I wanted to see more than any other, and I scanned the crowd half-terrified I’d see him there, and half-terrified that I wouldn’t. “Where’s Finn?”
Andre gave my hand a little squeeze. “That’s why it took me a minute to get here. I put him to work protecting the other kids and keeping them away from danger. And then I wove a charm to keep him safe. He’s fine, Poppy. He’s safe. I promise you.”
My knees buckled in relief, and I had to shift my weight to stay standing upright. I wouldn’t be totally at ease until I saw him for myself, but I trusted Andre. If he said Finn was safe, I would believe him. I knew he’d never put my son at risk.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Taliyah and Maverick slipping away without a word. That was a bit weird. Usually Taliyah had a million questions whenever she was involved in a crime scene or some other such situation. As Haven Hollow’s Chief of Police, she liked to keep on top of threats that showed up. Then I remembered the words that Alecto had spat at them both, the guilt she’d wielded like a knife had absolutely spilled blood.
So, I didn’t draw attention to them, just let them vanish into the trees, and told myself I’d check on them both later and just hope I didn’t end up frozen or hexed for it. If Wanda was tight lipped when it came to emotion, Taliyah was even worse.
Wanda eyed me, her lips twisted up like she’d tasted something sour. “I can’t believe you just walked into the woods all alone. Like you thought you were a witch or something. Do I need to remind you that you’re still a gypsy? Ahumangypsy?”
“No, you don’t need to remind me, Wanda.”
“When are you going to start paying more attention to your own safety?” she continued, clearly angry with me. “You take way too many chances with yourself and I swear to Hecuba, you’re taking years off my life.”
“Sorry, Wanda.”
Why was it I felt more like Wanda’s kid than her best friend?
“We’re going to need to get you a panic button, for the number of times you get into trouble.” The scowl turned into a smirk. “Or a bell.”
“Hey.” The protest came out a little weak. I couldn’t really work up any steam over it, since Wanda had kind of come charging to my rescue and all.
Though, I did promise myself that in the future, I’d be keeping at least one protection potion on me at all times. I didn’t want to find myself unarmed like this again, even if it probably wouldn’t have worked on Alecto.
Andre’s warm arm slipped around me, steadying me when I swayed.
“Come on, Poppy,” he said. “Let’s get you home.”
I let out a slow breath, looking into his blue, blue eyes.
That sounded pretty good to me.
Chapter Seventeen
A few days after the bonfire disaster at the festival, I opened one of my kitchen cupboards and rooted around behind a stack of my least used mixing bowls, and sighed when I came up empty.
After everything that had happened over the past few weeks, I supposed that misplacing dishes wasn’t all that strange, but I was usually pretty precise about putting things back, just to avoid situations like this one. After moving in and taking months to remember just where everything was, I’d actually hung lists on the inside of the doors for a while. Maybe I needed to start again.
Of course, if a wayward measuring cup was the worst thing to happen today, I’d take it with a smile. I could do with a few calm, peaceful days.
Thanks to everyone’s efforts, especially Fifi’s dryad friends, there wasn’t any permanent damage left to the festival grounds or the surrounding woods. The grass was lush and thick, and the trees were all patched up, though a couple were minus a branch or two, but there was no sign that there’d ever been a fire at all. And thanks to Taliyah’s quick work, the fire in the woods hadn’t gotten a chance to do much damage, or even spread. I still hated to think of what Alecto might have done to the town otherwise. An unseasonably dry summer and a fire wouldn’t end well. That was why the festival had had so many measures put into place.
Things had all pretty much gone back to normal, other than Wanda texting me a few times a day to make sure I wasn’t in any peril. She’d become like an overprotective mother and then some—something which gave me cause for pause where Finn was concerned.
As far as everything that had happened with Alecto, well, it was something I couldn’t keep out of my mind. And it was something I was fairly sure wasn’t just plaguing me. I kept seeing the expressions on Taliyah and Maverick’s faces when they’d showed up to help me, the way Alecto had torn into them, exposing their secret shames.
I was just glad that things had started looking up, like the past couple of weeks hadn’t even happened. The night of the fire, after everything had died down, I’d taken Finn and gone home and slept like a log for about twelve hours, all without a single dream or hint of a nightmare. It had been blissful, but I’d still been tired for a few days afterwards. At least I’d started catching up on my sleep deficit. And my Dreamtime Oil was working beautifully again, without my own magic sabotaging it.
Finn was talking to me again, so that was one big weight off my chest. I hated it when we fought, and I’d had to give myself a bit of a pep talk about it. He was growing up, after all. Finn was officially a teenager, and in a few short years, he’d be all grown up. There were bound to be growing pains and though I’d never apologize for wanting to protect him, it still upset me to have him mad at me.
We’d had a talk, and decided his recent dizzy spell was owing to Alecto, since he hadn’t experienced anything like it in a long while. So, he was still taking lessons with Andre, with the agreement that at the first hint of him feeling tired, he had to let Andre know. Hopefully, with my magic not being stirred up by a vengeance goddess, I wouldn’t make things worse for him.
